Danish support for saving the EU emissions trading scheme
Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Building, Denmark: The Danish Government supports the European Commission’s proposal to temporarily withdraw 900 million CO2 emissions allowances from the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). The support is conditioned on the Commission setting out a plan for structural changes to the carbon market. The Government chose to support the Commission’s proposal, known as ‘backloading’, after thorough consideration. The Government would like to see EU member states go further by reducing their CO2 emissions by 30 percent by 2020, instead of 20 percent. There has been limited support for this position, however. “We have chosen to support the Commission’s proposal in order to save the carbon market as it struggles with very low prices. We still demand, however, that the Commission set out a plan for making structural changes to the market,” says Minister for Climate, Energy and Buildings Martin Lidegaard. According to the proposal, permits to release 900 million tonnes of CO2 will be withdrawn from the market between 2013 and 2015. (Source: http://kemin.dk/en-us/newsandpress/news/2013/sider/danishsupportforsavingtheeuemissionstradingscheme.aspx)